Former Strictly Come Dancing star Flavia Cacace-Mistry has revealed that her and husband Jimi Mistry “didn’t have a clue what we were doing” when they packed up their life to move to the countryside.
The professional dancer and the ex-EastEnders star first met when they coupled up on the 2010 edition of the dance show.
Flavia left the dance show in 2014 and the loved-up pair have now swapped their bungalow in Guildford for a seven-acre smallholding in Devon.
The couple's online fitness and nutrition business came into difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic as they were faced with competition from free online workouts.
But they have now switched up their lifestyle and live in a converted stone barn from which they sell eggs they collect from their flock of hens.
The couple also keep three rare breed sheep and grow their own fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes, onions, pumpkins, tomatoes, apples, plums and figs.
They have been documenting their move to the southwest coast of England on their Instagram account @OurLifeAtTheBarn.
The bio for the social media account reads: "Follow us @flavia_cacace @mistryeats and #pabloandzak on our life changing journey as we move to the country and follow our self sustainable dream".
Flavia, 42, told Hello! magazine: “It was hard because we’d invested a lot of time and effort into our business but then we thought, how do we turn this whole thing into a positive?
“We didn’t have a clue what we were doing.
“We bought some books and didn’t intend to grow anything or get any animals for the first year, but then Jimi’s mum said, if you water it, it will grow, and we thought, hey, we can do this.”
Jimi, 48, added: “In the past, we couldn’t even keep a houseplant without killing it because we were never home.
“It’s second nature to me now to pick a vegetable or collect an egg and cook it. I couldn’t imagine buying them in the supermarket.”
The couple now are looking at opening a farm shop which will include a guest house.
Jimi admitted that they "haven't looked back once" since upping sticks and moving to the countryside,
“The ambience, the feeling, the energy that has been created here has made us feel so much calmer and better about life,” he said.
And Flavia was in full agreement, adding that the couple are now stress free. She also admitted that their old life now "feels alien".
“We did it for years," she said. "But it’s amazing when you come out of it and realise you can finally breathe.”
The full interview is in Hello!. out now.
